1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to body-attachable bags for transporting articles, and more particularly, to a mail bag structure worn at the human waist to either side of the body.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Known mail bag structures use a shoulder strap for carrying the bag structure. The strap is worn over the shoulder with the container suspended from the depending ends of the shoulder strap. Mail carriers must carry as much as seventy pounds of mail in these mail bag structures.
These known shoulder-carried mail bags have a number of drawbacks. The strap is abrasive to the shoulder, back, and chest of the person carrying the mail bag. This problem is emphasized as more and more women are becoming mail carriers. Another problem with shoulder-carried mail bags is they cause a concentrated and heavy burden on the shoulder. This problem is also emphasized as more women become mail carriers because women, typically, have narrower and weaker shoulders than do men. A further problem associated with shoulder-carried mail bags is that the weight of the load carried being applied to the shoulder results in the load being carried much above the center of gravity of the person carrying the bag. Mail carriers must do much walking and bending. The heavy load supported on the shoulder much above the center of gravity of the person results in undue stress applied to the back muscles and attendant back injuries. Yet, a further drawback with known shoulder-carried mail bags is that they limit the freedom of movement of the upper body of the person carrying the mail bag.
Various types of carriers attachable at the human waist are known, per se, from for example the following U.S. Patents.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,317,176, issued on Apr. 20, 1943 shows a bag for carrying light-weight items such as, for example, knitting and sewing supplies. The bag is formed of a small, flat pouch formed by folding a sheet of fabric and stitching the side edges together. A zipper is secured to the free edges of the folded sheet of material to form a closable top opening into the pouch. A flexible apron is attached to the top edge of the pouch next to the zipper, and a light-weight belt is affixed to the top edge of the apron.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,055,566, issued on Mar. 2, 1959 for a berry box carrier, that is a box for berry boxes. The carrier includes an open rigid structure adapted for slidably receiving berry boxes. A curved, rigid brace is affixed to the open work structure and projects outwardly therefrom and is adapted to fit against the curvature of the human body. A flexible belt is attached to the projecting ends of the curved brace to secure the carrier to a person's waist.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,917,134, issued on Nov. 4, 1975 shows what is called a fishing carrier for carrying fishing tackle and accessories to be worn about the waist. The carrier is fabricated of a rigid material and includes two box-like compartments having pivoted covers. The box shaped compartments have planar walls and are located side-by-side and in at an angled relationship to each other. An apron plate of rigid material is attached to the box shaped containers spanning the distance across the angle formed between the containers. A belt is attached to the end walls of the containers. When a user is carrying the fishing carrier, the apron plate bears against the user's body to stabilize the carrier relative to the user's body, and the belt is fastened around the user's waist.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,029,243, issued on June 14, 1977 shows a belt supported backpack of unitary construction to be worn around a person's waist for carrying camping supplies and the like. The backpack includes a compartment attached to the intermediate section of a belt in a unitary construction in which the intermediate section of the belt forms the back wall of the compartment which is against the person's body when wearing the backpack. The belt is worn about the person's waist thereby securing the backpack in place. The compartment has a flap which is secured in a closed position by a zipper. The compartment walls and belt are made of the same fabric material.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,287,971, issued on Sept. 8, 1981 shows a bag having a shoulder strap for supporting the bag over a person's shoulder and an auxiliary belt to be worn about the person's waist to reduce the tendency of the bag to swing when suspended from the shoulder.
Each of these above-mentioned bags is suited for particular purposes, all of these bag structures have deficiencies which render each of them unsuited for carrying heavy loads, such as mail, about a person's waist.